mermaid tear
n.— Note: Nurdles are defined here. «More alarmingly, research has shown that small plastic pieces, also termed nurdles or “mermaid tears”, act like sponges, absorbing pollutants and other harmful substances. When consumed by living organisms and passed along the food chain, the pollutants become “biomagnified” and can reach dangerously high concentrations, a particular risk if / when their host fishes find their way onto our dinner plates.» —“Beyond guilt’s horizons a plastic invasion fleet gathers” by Catherine Cheung Courier (Ballarat, Victoria, Australia) June 14, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange assignment: find a monarch caterpillar. The result? A memorable lesson in the miracle of metamorphosis...
Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means “money.” In the same way, cat beer isn’t alcoholic — some people use cat beer as a joking term for “milk.” And imagine walking on a...